Authorities declined to say when and where Muhamad Rahim was captured, but The Nation seems to know, this from last August:
Al-Qaeda and Taliban have received another setback when their two important aides were arrested from different places in Pakistan, sources said Wednesday.
Muhammad Rahim was arrested few days back from Lahore while Sheikh Ilyas Khel was netted from the general bus-stand in Peshawar, the sources maintained. According to them, Rahim was Osama bin Laden’s special aide, hailing from Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, while the other had worked for Laden as translator and guide during his stay in Afghanistan. Rahim was chief of Qaeda’s team, which was engaged in negotiations with the Afghan govt-nominated commanders including Hazrat Ali in early 2002.
Ilyas Khel was an active commander of late Maulvi Younas Khalis of Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan.
Jammie Wearing Fool has an Update here.
Ed at Hot Air has an update Here
Fox News article Here
The Long War Journal has an update here.
Reuters Article here with more details on Rahim
USA Today article here.
Authorities also grabbed Sheik Ilyas Khel, also an AQ HVT. Left a mystery still is what Egyptian(s) were killed in this Strike.
Worthy of Note:
- Shortly after this capture US Forces in Afghanistan led a major new offensive on Tora Bora.
- Now we also know why the Al Qaeda camps mysteriously emptied I think.
- We also know why Musharraf missed the first days of the Afghanistan-Pakistan all-tribes peace Jirga. According to Washington at the time he had “Compelling Reasons.”
More at Free Republic
The Nation article from Pakistan is dated 8/07. Looks like we spent quite a bit of time debriefing Rahim before announcing we had him.
Yep, I’m surprised I missed that last August, but there was a lot going on then.
I don’t think anyone caught that last summer. Good catch though; haven’t seen that posted elsewhere. Anyway, I linked your item.